Humboldt Squid in the Bering Sea? Fact or Greenpeace just off a bit...

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Humboldt Squid in the Bering Sea? Fact or Greenpeace just off a bit...

Am I off base or wouldn't the fact they saw Humboldt Squid in the Bering Sea be MUCH bigger news than squid being attracted to a submersible???? I thought it was pretty big news when they showed up in SE Alaska and PWS.

"A pair of Greenpeace submariners have had their own "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" experience on an expedition in the Bering Sea -- in a scaled down sort of way. Rather than the Nautilus and a giant squid, the pair were in a Dual Deep Workersubmersible when the encounter occurred.And their attackers weren't a squid of the giant variety, but a pair of Humboldt squids, nicknamed "jumbo squid" or "red devil" for their famed aggression and the red colour the squids turn when in hunting or attack mode."

I watched the video. Very cool! They sure do look and behave like Humboldt squid. Some years we get quite a few of them around San Francisco. They have been caught in SE Alaska, so not too big of a stretch to find some a bit farther north:

Squid like lights. That's how they fish for them, so really no surprise to me.

As for "Humboldts," I'm going to remain skeptical until someone pulls one from the water and reliably ID's it.

There's a similar squid up here that gets pretty darned big, though certainly not over a meter. Darned if I can remember the names for it at the moment- either Japanese or scientific. It resembles the Humboldt right down to the cat claws on the tentacles. The Japanese used to trawl for it up here "back in the day" and they took a lot of it. Trawlers here run into it fairly often, especially on night tows. I have several trawler friends who save a few for me when they think of it. Average size, you can get 2 or maybe 3 into a 5-gallon bucket. Never measured, but eyeball sezz the mantles (bodies) are 18-24" long. The meat is 1/2" to 3/4" thick, and cooked right, quite tender. And taaaaaasssstey! I'd never bother with piddly little Loligo squid (aka the market squid from down off Monterey, CA) if I could get a reliable supply of these whoppers.

Squid like lights. That's how they fish for them, so really no surprise to me.

As for "Humboldts," I'm going to remain skeptical until someone pulls one from the water and reliably ID's it.

There's a similar squid up here that gets pretty darned big, though certainly not over a meter. Darned if I can remember the names for it at the moment- either Japanese or scientific. It resembles the Humboldt right down to the cat claws on the tentacles. The Japanese used to trawl for it up here "back in the day" and they took a lot of it. Trawlers here run into it fairly often, especially on night tows. I have several trawler friends who save a few for me when they think of it. Average size, you can get 2 or maybe 3 into a 5-gallon bucket. Never measured, but eyeball sezz the mantles (bodies) are 18-24" long. The meat is 1/2" to 3/4" thick, and cooked right, quite tender. And taaaaaasssstey! I'd never bother with piddly little Loligo squid (aka the market squid from down off Monterey, CA) if I could get a reliable supply of these whoppers.

I agree. I have been doing some research on Berryteuthis Magister or the armhook squid. Supposedly the most abundant squid in Alaska. Up to 2ft long overall size. These look bigger but hard to tell. Most of the squid seem to be found on the edge of the continental shelf but B Magister seems like their range includes PWS and K-Bay. I've got pretty powerful underwater LED lights. This is the time of year to try them I think. Dark at a reasonable hour but not -10 deg below zero!

But if they are confirmed as Humboldt Squid, I'd think that's be news!

have no idea if they know if they are there, but in the ocean there are 3 very large SQUID an the HUNBOLDT SQUID is the smallest of the 3,
no one ever got a sample of the BEARING SEA large SQUID , it could be different all together from the 3 I spoke about, who knows
untill they get a sample an look at it , in the LAB, SID

Dat's it. Thanks. Some reason aka-ika sticks in my mind for the Japanese, but that may be crossed memory circuits.

They're common in the Shelikof Straight in winter and probably longer, so no surprise on PWS and K-Bay.

You're maybe thinking of Onykia? Onykia Robusta; the old name is Moroteuthis Robusta, the "clubhook squid".... They'll go ten feet and 80 pounds or more, and resemble humboldt squid. Fair chance that's what Greenpeace encountered, tho the way things are changing it's probably only a matter of time before humbolt squid make their way to the Bering.

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As the"""" WIKIPEDIA """"""" list in order of size, the """ Humbodt squid "", then the """Giant squid "", an the largest """Colossal Squid "" , the Colossal can be up tp 40 FT long an that is BIG to me SID